VILLANOVA, Pa. - Villanova junior guard Maalik Wayns will enter his name into the pool of candidates for the 2012 National Basketball Association draft, it was announced today. Wayns has not retained the services of an agent, keeping open the option of returning for his final season of eligibility in 2012-13. The deadline for early entrant candidates to remove their names from draft consideration is April 10.

"I want to test the waters at this point to see where I stand," said Wayns, who paced the Wildcats in scoring in 2011-12 with a 17.6 ppg average.

Wayns came to Villanova from Philadelphia's Roman Catholic High School and in three seasons has scored 1,191 points in 95 games. His 39-point game at Cincinnati on Jan. 14 was the highest single game point total recorded this season by a BIG EAST player and the 6-2 guard was named second team All-BIG EAST in voting by the conference's coaches.

"I think this is a smart decision for Maalik at this stage of his career," stated Villanova head coach Jay Wright. "I look forward to working with him as we go through this process."